a few fun photos

Firstly, MERRY CHRISTMAS! You know we Cox's like to have a good time and mommy captured this one quickly!!! Love the way it turned out! Decided it must be our Christmas Photo for the year! The girls will probably not be a big fan of mine when they get older and still see this photo hanging around the house, but oh well! Its the fun we had making the memories that matters!
My beautiful Maddie decided she would model for me on one of Kenzie's off days and I got some great photos of her! I can't believe that she's already almost 1/2 way through her kindergarten year! My how time flies!!!
My girl what can I say! She's such a silly one!
I was able to talk kenzie into one photo. I have blurred out the edges in order to create some focus on her! She's such a great sport at it!!!

...........

Maddie was a sickly lil girl yesterday. Well it started Saturday in Orlando, but got bad enough Monday evening we took her to the er. She has a double middle ear infection. Not good, but she's on antibiotics and should be good to go very soon.

I have finally figured out 2 backdrops I can use for the Santa photos! Woo Hoo! I was really trying to come up with something that wouldn't look too bad, and well, I think I have done it. Now I just have to decide on the one I am going to end up using!!!

Ryan's doing well. Still loving his job.

Kenzie is still doing well in 3rd grade. She's gotten in the habit of reading to Maddie on a regular basis! Awesome! And that's really all that's going on here other than next week maddie gets to wear her sock monkey jammies to school! she's totally excited! it's a fun christmas thing they are doing with her class!

time for a check in....

i will admit this year i haven't been the best blogger... life just kind of took over... during november right before thanksgiving, i got really sick... i didn't do anything as far as social media during that time and took a while to get back to it... now we are approaching christmas and ryan has maddie at the er now... kenzie's laying on my bed behind me just coughing her head off... yep... sickness has struck once again... maddie is a little sicker than kenzie and so, i told him to take her on in. that way we get her on meds asap! i'll update when i know what she has... but i think it may be strep (don't quote me because i am no dr but that's just a momma's gut feeling). kenzie just has the symptoms of a cold...

so this week, we have two sickies, ryan working like mad, and i am working on a backdrop for friday... i have photo's with santa for my mommy group friday, tina's kiddies saturday morning, and then ashley's kiddies that afternoon, and cc's lil man on sunday afternoon... it will be fun to get some photo's in there... and i have a photo that i am trying to get from carol... it's going to be our christmas card for the year! i love love love it!

and that's about it... i'll be laying down with kenzie in a few minutes and then hope to know about maddie soon... they've already beeen gone for over 2 hours.... we shall see :)

what have the cox's done lately???

over the weekend, we decided to take the girls camping in honor of our 9th wedding anniversary. tons of fun. we got there about 6pm friday and got the tent set up dinner cooked (over the bon fire) and smores too:) just a nice relaxing evening under the stars.

saturday-- we woke up early, as is normal because the sun peeping in the tent just wakes us all up early, had yummy egg sandwiches via mommy using Big Kevin's tripod to cook over the fire once again, and went for a 3 mile hike (walk) to the day use playground. after we got back, the kids had hotdogs, and we walked from the tent loop to the cabin loop so the kids could pick out the cabin they wanted to have for christmas, then over to the playground on that side. back to tent loop and i laid down for about 10 minutes until pappy got there to see all of us. he brought us great news! but i'm not sharing just yet... then a little later our friends christine, rich and julia came to join us for the night. somehow we got 7 people on 2 air mattresses in our little tent!!! don't ask how me, ryan, kenzie and maddie all four fit on our little queen size air mattress!!! we had po' boys for dinner and smores again for dessert. we love us some smores when we are camping.

sunday morning, we packed up and headed over to do laundry. in the packing up process, one of our tent poles were broken, but that's ok, they are replacable. so we will just have to buy a set of the repair kit and fix it before we go back out in november. now that the weather is cooling down here, we can camp until summer!!!

we have concentrated on making our christmas lists this week, and the kids have added tons of game boy and ds and wii games they want not to mention computer and board games!! they are game crazy here lately!

ryan and i added a lot of camping stuff. this is something we enjoy so we are wanting to get everythign we might need for the trips taken care of this winter. that way it's all out of the way because come spring prices go UPPPP! and we don't like that LOL

this weekend kenzie and i are headed to jacksonville for the first time! we're having a girls weekend and i couldn't be happier about it. so tonight, we are getting all our chores done around the house so that tomorrow night we can pack our suitcase and be ready to go bright and early friday. ryan is working the bouncer company job again this weekend and maddie is hanging out with yaya.

oh, before i forget, i had maddie's parent/teacher teleconference yesterday, and this is what mrs. p said: "maddie can identify and give the sounds for the letters m, a, s, p. she cannot give a word that begins with those letters. she can identify all 6 sight words that were introduced. maddie gets intensive support from (the reading teacher) and myself for reading. she is making progress. maddie is always very excited to learn and she always participates. she is continuing to work on her hand writing. (speech teacher from here) maddie works hard in speech and is continuing to improve.

all in all a great conference!!! i look for maddie to give us great things in school!

kenzie is getting her report card a day early (tomorrow) so i'll update here tomorrow on her for my friends and family out of town. i am excited to see what she does for her first real report card with the abcd type grades on it... i am praying that she does well in math (it's her hardest subject) and we are working very hard with her on improving.

that's all for now

more to come when i have more for you :)

plans...

we have finally begun planning some fun times for us... here we go...

last sunday, i went with my bestie, christine, to see the help as you know, so i started looking at the movies that are either out or coming out and got an e mail from focus on the family about a movie that is coming out friday. i was able to talk ryan into going (even though he really doesn't like the movie thing) and his mom is going to babysit for us.

so, our 1st date night is dinner and Courageous!!! i can't wait to see the movie! i sure hope that this will inspire him to want to do date night on a regular basis.

then in november, kenzie and i have been invited to go to jacksonville for a weekend! that's going to be tons of fun! we get to go with our besties and have fun on jacksonville beach! more to come on that..

maddie isn't making many plans yet other than "i wanna be lemon meringue for halloween mommy!" and kenzie has decided she wants to be a vampire (which i am totally ok with! love me some twilight) so we know what the kids want to be and they will make adorable characters!!

and other than that we have the norm along with me starting to try and go to zumba on a regular basis and when i can't go i do it on the wii.

so more to come when there's more to report :)

Shoes In Chruch

I got this via e mail and wanted to share it with you all :

It has such a great little message and I pray that it touches your hearts in the same way it has touched mine ;)

SHOES IN CHURCH

I showered and shaved............... I adjusted my tie.

I got there and sat............... In a pew just in time.

Bowing my head in prayer......... As I closed my eyes..

I saw the shoe of the man next to me..... Touching my own. I sighed.

With plenty of room on either side..... I thought, 'Why must our soles touch?'

It bothered me, his shoe touching mine... But it didn't bother him much.

A prayer began : 'Our Father'............. I thought, 'This man with the shoes, has no pride.

They're dusty, worn, and scratched. Even worse, there are holes on the side!'

'Thank You for blessings,' the prayer went on.

The shoe man said............... A quiet 'Amen.'

I tried to focus on the prayer....... But my thoughts were on his shoes again.

Aren't we supposed to look our best. When walking through that door?

'Well, this certainly isn't it,' I thought, Glancing toward the floor..

Then the prayer was ended........... And the songs of praise began.

The shoe man was certainly loud..... Sounding proud as he sang.

His voice lifted the rafters........ His hands were raised high.

The Lord could surely hear. The shoe man's voice from the sky.

It was time for the offering..... And what I threw in was steep.

I watched as the shoe man reached.... Into his pockets so deep.

I saw what was pulled out............ What the shoe man put in.

Then I heard a soft 'clink' . As when silver hits tin.

The sermon really bored me............ To tears, and that's no lie.

It was the same for the shoe man.... For tears fell from his eyes.

At the end of the service...... As is the custom here.

We must greet new visitors, And show them all good cheer.

But I felt moved somehow............. And wanted to meet the shoe man.

So after the closing prayer......... I reached over and shook his hand.

He was old and his skin was dark.... And his hair was truly a mess.

But I thanked him for coming......... For being our guest.

He said, 'My names' Charlie............. I'm glad to meet you, my friend.'

There were tears in his eyes........ But he had a large, wide grin.

'Let me explain,' he said.......... Wiping tears from his eyes.

'I've been coming here for months.... And you're the first to say 'Hi.''

'I know that my appearance............'Is not like all the rest.

'But I really do try.................'To always look my best.'

'I always clean and polish my shoes..Before my very long walk.

'But by the time I get here..........'They're dirty and dusty, like chalk.'

My heart filled with pain.......... And I swallowed to hide my tears.

As he continued to apologize........... For daring to sit so near

He said, 'When I get here..............'I know I must look a sight.

'But I thought if I could touch you..Then maybe our souls might unite.'

I was silent for a moment........... Knowing whatever was said

Would pale in comparison... I spoke from my heart, not my head.

'Oh, you've touched me,' I said......'And taught me, in part;

'That the best of any man...............'Is what is found in his heart.'

The rest, I thought,..................... This shoe man will never know.

Like just how thankful I really am... That his dirty old shoe touched my soul

Holiday 2011 Photo Special

As a gift to my customers, I decided to revamp my holiday special! Here it is:

From now until 12/15/2011 I am offering:

On Site Full Sessions

With all images on cd for you for just $50.00

e mail Dawn @ rdmmcox67@gmail.com to schedule

wowzer!

it's been a busy weekend. recap:

saturday: kenzie was surprised with a sleepover that she thought she wasn't going to get, but we allowed her best friend to surprise her at her yaya's and take her home with her. they did the movie and playing school thing. they were great!

sunday: maddie and i met christine, kenzie, julia, and yaya at target for some shopping then went to great clips, maddie got her hair all shaped up and kenzie got a cut! i'll try and get a photo of her later for the blog, but she got an inverted/stacked bob. she looks so adorable with it. and it made our school routine much easier this am!!! then we went to the grand opening at tcby for free icecream, face painting, and stilted balloon twister. very fun. christine and i then went to see the help! love that movie! want that movie. want to read the book too.

anyway, that's about that more to come later :)

your thoughts

i need some feedback. i've seen that juicing is on the rise again... first, i want to know what you think of juicing. and where i might find some information on juicing to begin with. maybe a site that has some recipes i could try???

now for today:

the girls and ryan went to do laundry and i am redesigning some flyers. work work work. other than that, kenzie is being surprised with a sleep over she knows nothing about. her friend julia should be getting to where she is right now and telling her that she's staying the night. love having friends who actually beg to keep my kids! and what a joy it is to know that my kids are SO WELL BEHAVED that people ask me if they can have them over!!! it's great!

on to other things:

this morning i had a friend send me a message on facebook. she wanted to "book" me!!! i was very excited! not only did she book a fall sesssion, but a christmas one, and a spring one (working on that special right now too) so that's great that i am having some repeat customers who want to have their photos done time and time again!

October looks like this: Thirty-One party, Makeover with Christine and Tina, then Diana and kids as well as Christine's Fall session.

November so far is this:

Pickens Family Christmas Photos @ Beach

Christmas Special @ Starkey

Christmas Special @ Beach

Lacy Family Christmas Photos

And of course I have all the crazy holiday stuff to do... halloween, thanksgiving, christmas, and new years all coming up!

Not to mention that I am booking some back to school sessions still.

More to come when I have a minute :) back to work... the boss is about to smack me with a ruler LOL just kidding, but it is time to get back to work on those flyers and the spring specials..

feeling much better

thank you Jesus! i am feeling much better. and while some may make fun of me for praising my Saviour, it doesn't matter! look at how many times he was ridiculed, yet HE REIGNS! Can I get an AMEN??? and if my sister were here she would be yelling "AMEN SISTA" it really makes me laugh that people are so unhappy with their own lives that they have to berate me and make fun of me because they think it will make them happier. this has been going on for almost a year, and i am done with it. best to part ways than to continue having these spats. i am going to be called names and made fun of sure, but for it to go public on networks, it is not acceptable, neither is it ok for it to envolve my business. so if these people decide to envolve that, there will be law enforcement involved at all costs.

other than that kenzie got her progress report today and is doing great.

maddie is maddie is maddie...

under the weather

so the three cox girls have spent 1 day each under the weather... today's my turn... saturday/sunday was maddie, monday was mackenzie and tuesday is mommy... so until i feel better, check out my business site":

Dawn Cox Photography

this week

has flown by.  i can't believe it's thursday already.

so far i've been really busy with getting models for my portfolio together, after the next few shoots, i will only need a maternity shoot and a senior to round it out really nicely.

i have a few shoots coming this weekend and since it's been nice, they are a for sure go.

i'll be posting pics to my business blog .  i'll tag here so you can all see them, but in the mean time if you want to see my stuff, find me on facebook @Dawn Cox Photography

gotta run :)

quick update

not much to report here other than that i am getting a few more calls/emails about some photo shoots and madison is now getting speech therapy.

so first the speech therapy, yesterday, ryan got a call while he was at work about madison. it was the speech therapist saying that she needs about 1/2 the speech therapy that kenzie gets. i am actually pretty happy that she is getting it because although she has great speech, this will help her just a little more.

now the photo's, i am slowly getting more and more people inquiring about having me do their photography and while some may think that i am offering prices that are too low, i am doing what i feel is needed because there are SO many in my area who don't have the chance to do great photography with their family because the prices are WAY out of their budget. while you have the right to think that i should charge more, i would challenge you to think about the lower class working americans who cannot afford to pay 3-500 every time they go to get photo's done with their family.

that's all for now

dawn

rambling

so, as we all know, i'm not working outside of the home. some people don't agree with this, however this is what ME AND MY HUSBAND have decided is best for us right now because of a few reasons:

* we have 2 children and need one of us to be available for them before and after school

* it's been my dream for a VERY long time to be able to work from home and while I am not where I want to be with that it is a work in progress

* we have but 1 car. enough said on that

now, while I did put in applications and go to interviews, no one is hiring me and i believe it is because of my LIMITED availability. See, I don't believe in allowing my children to be raised by anyone OTHER THAN ME OR MY HUSBAND. Therefore, I am available to work either 10 am to 3 pm or 6 pm to 8 pm. now, with that said, no one is going to hire for those hours, therefore I am working on getting a photography business going.

Why photography? well, it's one of the things I love. There is no start up cost involved basically. And there are TONS of beautiful backdrops in nature here in florida not to mention, I can make my own schedule with this. Not to mention the potential earnings! The sky is the limit.

with all this said, if you don't agree with what we have decided to do for our family, it's ok to voice it ONE time but when you constantly are voicing it is when it upsets us and makes us not want to come around or associate with you. we are worried about OUR FAMILY not everyone elses decisions for us. we will raise our children the way we see fit and right now this is the best solution for us.

we are so tired of being the people who are judged because we don't make enough money and we don't have everything that other people have. sometimes it isn't what you have that makes you happy it's the love in your hearts and let me tell you people, THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL.

now with all of that said, let it be known, WE ARE STAYING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. by home I mean we are not going to go to anyone elses house. the girls have stated they may want to do a "country cabin christmas" at starkey park, and while we haven't ruled it out, we just are spending a quiet christmas with our kids and a few of our close friends. if you should choose to want to see our family for christmas this year, that's great, come on over and have a fun day, but should you decide you don't want to see us for christmas, that is fine with us too. i just don't see the sense in dragging everyone and everything all over the place to do christmas, when the kids would have so much more fun really playing and having family time with their parents and i wouldn't get asked, why didn't i get what he/she got from santa mommy???

anyway, enough rambling from me :)

a fun weekend

this weekend was a blast! something i haven't been able to say for a while so i am happy that things are turning around!!! here's a recap:

friday night we went to citrus park mall with our friends julia and christine and while madison decided it was a good time to disobey, all in all we had a good time... we ended up ending the evening short because of madison's bad behaviour, but we did not allow that to hinder our weekend.

saturday since it was wet out, we decided to go to clearwater. i couldn't do photo's on the beach or at the park and ask my clients to sit on wet ground. soooo un comfy that would have been, therefore we are rescheduling for better weather and hoping for this saturday for our friends james and stacey... so we went to salvation army, old navy, and the westfield mall @ countryside. it was so much fun (maddie stayed with daddy this time) and on the way home we went to steak n shake. something we don't normally do so it was a real treat. the best part was that because our meal rang up to 16 dollars, both girls were FREE bringing our total down to 10 dollars and change!!! nice! and we didn't even use coupons. then kenzie went home with christine and julia for her sleep over. she had a blast and did very well with their dog kasey!!! she had karaoke on the wii, dancing, movies, nails polished, etc... she was sooo good for her too!

today maddie went with daddy again today and had daddy daughter football time LOL and i went to the playground with julia, christine, and kenzie. we had a picnic lunch and played there at the playground, stopped in at the grocery store on the way home and then have vegged out since getting home due to the activity of the weekend.

now that maddie and ryan are home, it's time to get the kiddos to bed. it's been nice getting back into the routine of blogging a few times a week. it really makes me happy to blog but what makes me even more joyous is when i am asked by my friends about my church and they decide to come attend. so on sunday, i am meeting anita and eric to show them the ropes as far as where the kids go to classes as we drop our own kids off at class. it's so nice for friends to be able to start attending at such a big church :)

Surprise!!!

So I made you go an extra day, but let me tell ya, this week has been strange for me... Busy with lots of stuff, but without further ado, here's what Kenzie got to do.

The day after the playdate, we had been invited to go (FREE) to a Soccer "Practice" or so we thought at the University of South Florida. We thought it was really cool! So we went with Christine and Julia. When we got there we found out that it was really a double header! There was a game going on when we got there after church, so we watched the 2nd half of that and then came the fun part. Kenzie got to wear a retired Lady Bulls Jersey and go on the field during the line up but that wasn't all!!! See the photos I captured as she was on the field and other moments of our day!

First, you have to know that Mackenzie has finally found her BEST friend! Yeah Baby! They at first thought they would be wearing these Blue Pasco Pirahana's t shirts and that was cool, but when Coach asked them to both put on the jersey's they were thrilled! We had a short photo op outside of the college here and then we were off to see some Lady Bulls!!!
Right after the first game ended all of our Special Olympians got to go out on the field and get told what they were going to be doing. So, Kenzie got to join them. Keep in mind that Kenzie is not a Special Olympian, however they didn't have enough on their team, so they asked Kenzie if she would like to join in the fun! So she was right out there with the rest of the team and she loved it!!! As you can see, here, she's sporting the retired jersey and looks like she's a kid in a candy store. This photo I got of her on the field when she wasn't even paying attention to what I was doing!!! Cute Cute Cute!
Here she's paired up with the player she was going to run out with. I am assuming that the player is telling her what's going to happen and what Kenzie should do. And might I add that she did a phenomenal job! This kid was born to listen let me tell ya. Well at least when it comes from someone as cool as a Soccer player!!!

And my caption here is: "HA! I can run faster than you!" LOL but in all seriousness, when they were announcing the starting lineup the kids got to run out with the player they were paired with. Kenzie made it look like she's done this millions of times, but really, honestly, this was her first time ever having the chance to do something so cool! And she came off the field saying she wants to start playing soccer! Go figure! LOL

Here we have the starters waiting with their little ones as the rest of the players are called out to field. Looks like the players were having as much fun with this as our kids did!!! Julia and Kenzie were just taking it all in as you can see. There was a breeze, so Kenzie kept fighting her hair... We should have put it up, but I didn't think of that til later in the game :)
Shew, that's over, now it's time to sit on the "mountain" and cheer the girls on "USF! USF! USF!" The kids loved sitting on the lawn embankment at the end of the field and I gotta say it was cooler over there as I went later in the game. It was a great game and went into double overtime only for our Bulls to hold Murray State to 0-0!!! The refs weren't really doing their job in my opinion and toward the end they apparently woke up and figured out that they should have been calling fouls on Murray all along... We had one foul shot and barely missed it... darn!!! But they played hard and the kids loved seeing how to play soccer.
Scrimmage time at half time. The kids all got to play in a scrimmiage on the field for 1/2 time. Kenzie had so much fun!!! It was wonderful!
At the End of the game, Sarah Miller stopped and posed with our beauties for a photo for me!!! She's such a great gal!!! Kenzie loved getting to hang out and have autographs from the players and she says the best part was when Sarah and Julia took a pic with her for me.

All in all she had an amazing day!!

*ALL PHOTO'S ARE COPYWRITE TO DAWN COX 2011 DO NOT COPY!!!

Lacy/Cox Playdate

Fun times were had Saturday as we met Christine and Julia at the playground for a spontaneous play date. Mackenzie and Juilia are a perfect set of BFF's! They had so much fun together and didn't want to leave that night, but all is well!
Julia isn't used to the camera so much, so she did a great job! See, she has a touch of Autism, but all in all she's a great kid! She just doesn't have the camera pointed at her all the time like my kids do, so she's not used to it. But we all know that if you hang out with the Cox's there will be photos taken LOL!
"Hey, Julia, lets play peek a boo!" and that's just what we did! We had fun playing peek a boo around the tree!
She really didn't care for this monkey bar thing, but she was a great sport and climbed up there for me! Love this child!
These girls will do anything I ask! they didn't like that I was asking them to pose in the grass for me, but hey, they were great sports!!! Love the way they went back to back and believe it or not, Julia naturally put her hands on her leg like that!
"Please let me up now" LOL again, not a fan, but a great job!!!
"Peek a Boo! I see you Mommy" She's always been a great model for me! And this photo shows how great she is!!! Love my lil Kenzier!!!
Here we were on the monkey bars again... And I decided to do a mock color spot with that flower... looks great if you ask me :)
"Please get me down from here!" she didn't like where I had her sitting, but the photo turned out pretty good!
Although Madison didn't like getting in the photo's I did get one great one of her swinging!! She's such a case when it comes to photos. If she doesn't want her pic taken, it's not going to happen!

So, we had the play date and then got invited for somethign special. See the next post for that... I'll be posting it tomorrow to keep you in suspense!!!

A Word (or a bunch i should say)

This morning, I woke up and we got the kids off to school, then felt a tugging, so went to my bible. Here's what the Lord had for me today:

Psalm 34 Verse 10

The lions may grow weak and hungry;, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Why is this significant to me? Just the other day I was having a discussion with a friend of mine and she said that when we begin to seek the Lord he will provide a way for us to do what we need to do according to his will. Now, this is really cool to me because I really believe the Lord was preparing me for this verse! And my take on it is that even though I am going through a rough patch (yes, a rough patch is all it is) SEEK HIM and HE will see us through it!

Philippians 4 Verse 19

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

And for this verse it really hits home because as the economy struggles so do we and God will provide all that we need, we just have to ask and be thankful for what we have not coveting what we don't have. It's nice to have dreams, but when we can't achieve those dreams, we should take a step back and say thanks to God for what he did allow us to have!

Proverbs 22 Verse 14

The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the Lord's wrath will fall into it.

I don't have much to say about this verse. It just was my proverb for the day so thought I would share it.

My prayer is that through the tough times, we will all remember that God gives us Tests!!! And to praise HIM in the storms of life because ultimately He is the one who can and does bring us through the storms.

Until tomorrow, God Bless you!!!

First Graded Homework of the Year!!!

So, with the 2nd week of school, Kenzie starts getting homework!! We love homework! She has always loved school, and we are praying that her love for school will continue as she grows older, although for some reason, I am fearing the teenage years with this child! Anyway, it was math, her worst subject thus far, and when she brought it home yesterday, Ryan checked her backpack not me. So I just happened to find it this am after she went to school and was pleasantly surprised to see an A+ sticker on it!!! That's my girl!!!

Last night we had Open House at Madison's school, it didn't amount to much as I said school's just now in the 2nd week of school, but we went to support her. She loved showing us around her class and I think it really did her good to see that Mommy and Daddy are just as excited about her going to school as her sister is! This morning, she woke up all smiles and got ready with no tears!!! She's doing great this week with no crying! She probably just needed some extra time to get used to the schedule of being without Mommy during the day.

And on to other things, I am working up a few Photography Specials, details to come :)

and the first week is over

we are starting week two of school\

kenzie is adapting very well as always to going to school. i never have had trouble with getting her to go to school, it's her sister that i have issues with. maddie just does not want to go. we are making her ride the bus now because ryan needs the car some mornings, so i can't just take her. she doesn't like that and replies, "mommy i wanna hang out with you" it's hard, but it is what is best for her. she'll adapt to it soon enough (i hope) and hopefully she will start to love school the same way kenzie does...

sunday we took the kids swimming and they had a blast!!! was soo much fun! they love being in a pool...

and that's about the update for now.. more to come when i am happier... maddie had another morning of crying from the time she got up and she was still crying when she got on the bus... even made me promise to wait at the bus stop all day!!! wow she's a momma and daddy's girl!

Maddie meet Dr. Small...

I know I haven't been good at posting on a regular basis. So much has been going on, so I am going to try and post a little at a time til I get you all caught up.

First things first, Madison (aka Maddie) had an appointment with the eye doctor on Saturday. She was very excited to go. When we got there they did all of the normal tests (and let me tell ya, they can now take digital pictures of your retina!!!) That was sooo cool! Anyway, after the initial exam the doc said she would need glasses because she is far sighted. He decided to dialate her just to confirm that the script would be the correct one, so after 4 eyedrops, we were in the waiting room for 15 minutes. He confirmed and we were off to go pick out PURPLE glasses! She got them that afternoon and has had them on since!!!

dare I say she is beautiful? LOL

Anyway, more to come later :)

What a Week!!!

this week has been insane to say the least!!!

Monday: Both girls had their back to school physicals... Let me just say this: holy, KENZIE has to have a shotttt??? We weren't expecting Kenzie to have to have any shots, but we got through it... Maddie had 4 shots. They both are healthy! Maddie has to go back and have some warts frozen, which is not one of those days I will be looking forward to, but it's all in a day's Mothering right!

Tuesday: Preparing the girls for Meet the Teacher day took more out of me than I thought it would. I sort of took the day off of doing my long list of to do's to get Maddie mentally ready for what she was going to do on Wednesday.

Wednesday: Meet the teacher day at 2 schools. So, since the website said 830, we got at Maddie's school at 8am. No problem right? Wrong! They decided to wait until 9 to start and where they had the sign for the registration wasn't where the line was supposed to be so all of the ones who were there first had to go to the back of the line when we found out that it was the wrong place in the first place. Then we get to the Media Center and it was a bunch of chaos. We get her registered, head over to the bus line only to find out that they didn't have the hand written passes at the table and after waiting for what seemed like forever, we moved on so that we could finish up the rest of the centers we had to go to. Food and Nurtrition had some great information for us! Then PTA and volunteering and finally we go back to the Bus Line to find out they still don't have her pass, so I said, we'll come back after we see her teacher. Up to Mrs. Phipps room we go. We let her look around her room and talk a little with the teacher, and back to the bus line. We finally decided to come back one day later in the week since they still didn't have it together and we had another school to go to.

We get to Kenzie's school and were in and out in about 15 minutes! I love Meet the Teacher day at Kenzie's school. It's always been a breeze! So we go to the teacher who Kenzie is supposed to have only to find out that she doesn't have Mr. P, she has Mrs. Walsh again, but that's ok. She has done great with Mrs. Walsh for the last 2 years and she will do great again this year!!

Thursday: Ryan started working a new job and came home EXHAUSTED! And sunburned!

Friday: It was a crazy day here. The kids were missing their Daddy because he was at work for another LONG day. He's been leaving at 6 am and getting home around 7pm. Well, last night he got home around 9! And the girls had had enough of him not being here for them. So, they let him know it! We also went back to the school to get the bus pass that was supposed to be ready and wasn't. So we waited for them to make it out, which wasn't too bad because there wasn't the comotion of hundreds of families trying to do the same thing at the same time...

Today: Ryan is working again and I am taking Maddie to the eye dr. I'll post again after so that you can see what happens there...

is today over yet?

today has been a very busy day...

home made sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast... mmmm a family favorite here :)

put a roast and veggies in the crock pot while i was cooking this am...

grocery store...

walgreens...

target...

marshalls...

walmart....

back to school fashion show with the girls...

dinner with ya ya and pappy....

and now i have two sleeping angels... it's a great thing...

tired but wanted to sent in a quick update...

it's been a crazy busy day but a good kind of crazy

Praise You In This Storm w/ Lyrics!!

What in the world was that person thinking?

First, I want to say that I am so very happy to be back to blogging on a regular basis! It was quite a not so fun time of my life when I stopped blogging. I feel like by blogging, I can get a few things out of my mind that otherwise would just sit there.

So, anyway, most of you know by now that we got a new to us car in February. I love my little camry and I love it so much that I do not love the rear bumper right now! Ryan stopped in at publix on the way home and picked up a gallon of milk. Well, when he came out, he noticed that someone had rear ended our car AND JUST LEFT! So, now we get to replace the bumper to our car. It is still drivable, but it's just the point that when they nudged it, they didn't stop. They kept going and the dent in the bumper tells us that. Not to mention we have what looks like copper color paint and something black from their vehicle as well. So my question is this, what has this world come to that you have to hit someone elses car backing out and not stop. I don't expect you to tell me that you hit my car, but I do expect that you know how to drive otherwise you wouldn't be on the roads!

At any rate, I was ticked off last night but it's like this, Anger gets me no where. There's nothing I can do about it but plan on replacing the bumper as soon as possible. It just looks bad. I would like to get the car repainted anyway because the white paint shows EVERYTHING, but I don't know what the cost of doing that would be, so I'll be checking into it.

And so, here's the new part of my blog, I am going to try and share two things with you from now on. First a scripture to help with any feeling I may have had over whatever I am blogging about. Second a music video that will likely help me get through that situation, so, here's today's:

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. James 1: 19-21

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. Psalm 103: 8-10

And for song, I love this song, and we should all praise HIM in the storms of our life, so that is why I chose it for my song today. Yesterday's incident with my car was just a storm in my life and I should be greatful that no one was hurt.

(for some reason I can't figure out the embedding here today, but you can click on the link above and see the song lyrics as you listen to the song and when I do figure out the embedding I will put the video below)

The song is by Casting Crowns and is a great message!

Does Couponing Really work????

So, I've been thinking a lot lately. Not to worry, I know this is a real danger for me LOL! But seriously, I have been doing a lot of that and here's my thoughts. Many of you have probably heard of the tv show TLC's Extreme Couponing right? Well, I thought I would share some of our story as far as that goes.

While we do not live in a state that allows coupon doubling, we do get some great deals here in Florida. So great that I have been asked by my mom and her friend Bev to mentor them in couponing, therefore I am up for the challenge :) Now, basically, I want to share how I got involved and why. Then I will share some of my successes and how couponing really has helped us in the last few months.

First, I was one of those ladies who casually clipped coupons for years and never cashed in on ANY of the deals. Ring a bell? Well, I am hoping that at the end of this post I will have you interested in learning how to do it and do it well for your family. So, our background goes like this. I am a married stay at home mom. We have 2 beautiful little girls and times are tough right now. We all know that! So, in the beginning of the year, I got to thinking, what can I do as a stay at home mom to help make things easier financially. So the first thing I did due to my husband loosing his job and taking a cut in pay at the next one was (GASP!) apply for food stamps. Yes I said it! This to me was a huge insult that I had to even think about applying, however I really didn't see any other way to help our family out, so I went to the computer and applied. Low and Behold, we were approved and quick due to the lack of funds coming into our house. Now, this did help some, but I wanted more! Isn't that how it always is. We have what we have BUT WE WANT MORE! So, I ran across my church's bulletin and found out that later that month, there was going to be a workshop in the Ministry Center there on the grounds. That's awesome right? Well, this workshop cost $8.00. Where was I going to come up with that much money? This sounds like a small amount, but when you live paycheck to paycheck every penny matters. So I talked with my husband who agreed that it would be worth it to do the $8.00 and we would pray that it would pay off in the end. So I attended this workshop given by Kimberly of The Savvy Coupon Lady
What did I learn? Well, I learned that the deals I was looking for were at the store I had for so long BOYCOTTED because I thought it was too expensive! Publix is a great store and I can't believe I allowed our family to suffer by making them eat such lower quality foods! I learned that if I match coupons with the buy one get one free's that I can and do provide great food at a fraction of the cost. I also learned that even though there are so many out there hoarding the deals, you don't have to do that. I never in my life saw the mess that I saw on the above mentioned show! I was discusted! I haven't watched it since that first time! I will probably never again! See, there is a thing called ethics. This thing is one of the big things in the workshop. Yes, it is great to get great deals, but save some for others! Also, if you need a large quantity, (more than 10) the store manager is more than happy to fill out a special order and if they are running low or out of somethign, get a raincheck! It really is that easy.

Now for the fast forward, I have since that workshop saved HUNDREDS of dollars at Publix! Still wondering how I do it? Well, I have started a blog just for that, so head on over to CentSavers to find out more info on it. I am no where near as organized with it as Kimberly, but I do like sharing the huge deals you can get. If you want to do the step by step how to I suggest you go learn from Kimberly, but I will be trying to post a lot of how I do things on my blog as well. Kimberly is doing the match ups and I have not started that but hope to do so in the future.

And, why am I sharing so much? Because I want to see everyone save money and do it ethically. Also, there was a story on the news last night that really disgusted me! Why are people stealing newspapers just to get their coupons? This makes all of us look bad. :( Really, start small and then work up to what you need for your family. I started wtih 1 paper and my mother in law gave me the 2nd one I needed. Then as I can I buy 4 papers a week. 4 is my limit because even with just doing 2 I get AMAZING SAVINGS!

It's not uncommon for me to come home from the store with 60 plus dollars in savings! The other week I actually scored Splenda for free plus an overage! It is doable but just like everything else it takes work to do. If you think that you can get these deals immediately, please, just read my other blog or Kimberly's because it just isn't possible, you have to work up your stash and then take 1/2 hour before you go to the store to get the coupons you need and make your list. Simple!

My kids have never been happier with the choices they have for cereal and we have made a stock pile of it :) So, this week, we are at my mother in law's as they are out of town and we are doing a few things for them. I noticed they are out of a few things. I simply asked my husband to go home and "shop" in our stockpile! So I have been able to provide things for my in laws when before they were the ones helping us!!!

Feels great to help others!

busy momma

the last few days, i have been super busy! it seems like it never ends...

quick update:

kenzie's school didn't accept any children school choice applications. therefore maddie doesn't get to go to school with her sister.

ryan's schedule got changed YET AGAIN!

maddie is doing great! she loves that she has one tooth out! she is such a cutie

mom came in last week and we had friday to go shopping: here's what our day consisted of:

ihop
hospice thrift store
salvation army thrift store
usa flea market
mc donalds
photos
new shirts
school clothes
fun times with nana

it was a very busy day and we were all exhausted by the time it was done. i'll be editing and posting the pictures when i get a chance...

saturday and sunday have been equally busy. kenzie decided yesterday that she wants to tell me "mommy, for my birthday can we have a carnival?" really child.... good thing you are telling me in july and your birthday isn't til FEB!!! so i am holding her to it!!!

more details to come on that... and now my latest adventure, i have added a search bar to my blog! i'm excited about that for all of you :)

your attitude stinks

interesting title isn't it? well that's what i feel like saying to kenzie. sure, mommy was great when she let me go to orlando to see riley and shelby... but now that i have been home for a few days, mommy is the meanest person on earth and i don't like her so i am going to give her a really bad attitude from the time i wake up to well past my bedtime... it is getting old really quick, so guess what? KENZIE IS GROUNDED! from now until i find that she has started to regret being mean. no computer, no wii, no phone calls, no visiting friends, no visiting relatives, no surprises, no tv. all she is allowed to do is read her books and work on her math using our chalk board. (oh, and i forgot to add, NO DS!) she will learn one way or another that the way she has been acting lately is not something that she can get by with. i would ground her from her bicycle, but it wouldn't do any good since the tire is flat LOL i will be making her go outside and run laps about once every two hours starting now, so that will be a nice break. when she can be nice and get along with her sister without fighting then i might start to reward her with some of the things she is grounded from back. in the mean time, i am revamping our family rules as it seems this summer they have gotten thrown out the window as we go 80 on the interstate on our way home from orlando. anyway, enough rambling... i'll go to working on our family rules now.... i do not like blogging in a negative way, i just needed to get this off my chest.

sweetpea beauty-- veggietales

the girls and i watch veggie tales a lot, but it wasn't until Beth posted a video to facebook that I really connected with the one movie... and yes, i am still sobbing like a baby... here's the song:

Nichole Nordeman-- Beautiful for me. you can find it on youtube... it is a great message to all of us women... and just in the nick of time... as you read in my previous posts... i have been very down on myself, but i am trying to turn that around... once you hear the song, you will understand... see, growing up, i was made fun of and talked bad to all of my life, and it seems here lately, i can't find one good thing to say about me... this video really hit home... and i can't stop listening to it!!!

you make beautiful things out of dust

so, i have been struggling here lately with some internal issues of my own.... it always helps a little to blog about things when i am feeling this way, so i decided i would do just that... so anyway, i have been being very negative on myself because of several reasons, and then today, i just decided that it was time to come out of this funk, and turned on my favorite radio station JOYFM when I did, the song you make beautiful things out of dust was playing... This song really spoke revelations to me... Here are the words and then I will explain what I mean by it spoke to me...

All this pain
I wonder if I’ll ever find my way
I wonder if my life could really change at all
All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found
Could a garden come up from this ground at all

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in You

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

You make me new, You are making me new
You make me new, You are making me new

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

so basically, here's what God spoke to me through this song, "GOOD COMES FROM BAD" this is so very true. I mean really, I totally believe that when he closes one door it is because he is preparing us for bigger and better things to come. However, I have slacked off on my spiritual walk and he is showing me that now... So, tomorrow, I will be going to church and attending womens in the evening. I can't wait because I miss the ladies so very much.

After that I got to where I was thinking bad thoughts about me. My weight, my eye, my hair, etc and I thought of this next song. It is by MercyMe and it is called beautiful. Again, here are the lyrics and then i will type a little about what the song said to me...

The days will come when you don't have the strength
When all you hear is you're not worth anything
Wondering if you ever could be loved
And if they truly saw your heart they'd see too much

You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are made for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You're beautiful

I'm praying that you have the heart to find
Cause you are more than what is hurting you tonight
For all the lies you've held inside so long
And they are nothing in the shadow of the cross

You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are made so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You're beautiful

Before you ever took a breath
Long before the world began
Of all the wonders He possessed
There was one more precious
Of all the earth and skies above
You're the one He madly loves
Enough to die

You're beautiful
You're beautiful
In His eyes

You're beautiful
You were meant for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You're meant for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His

when listening to this song, God said, "Daughter, you are BEAUTIFUL! I am the one that matters and I say you are beautiful. Don't pay attention to the flesh! I gave my son for you and I love you!" after getting this message, I sat here and cried because I know that it is a word from my Abba. He is always right! and I am HIS!

so from this point forth, I am going to make a consience effort to show that I am his!!!!

(just a little note, amanda, if you are reading this, please give my girls a hug and kiss for me I MISS THEM THISSSSS MUCH!)